


nocturne

by aelescribe



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, Sleepwalking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 07:29:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15138182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aelescribe/pseuds/aelescribe
Summary: It happens at infrequent intervals. Three nights in a row. Radio silence for two weeks and then Nico comes knocking again. Every other night over nine days. Jason finds that he doesn’t mind it. He doesn’t need a lot of sleep, and if there’s anyone that can melt his heart at 3am, it’s Nico.





	nocturne

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt 2 for Jasico week: confession

Jason is woken from his slumber by a sluggish knock at his cabin door. He startles out of unconsciousness, blinking his heavy eyelids. He doesn’t know what’s so important that he  _ has _ to be bugged at this hour. During his leadership days, he was used to it. He guesses that’s something he’ll never quite be able to put behind him. So he’s pretty cranky when he opens the door. 

 

“What?” he groans. 

 

“It’s cold out,” Nico says.

 

Jason completely changes his tune when it turns out that the son of Hades is the one who interrupted his sleep. “Nico!” he says, delight managing to fade out his grouchiness. “What are you doing here?”

 

Jason had become accustomed to Nico dropping by his cabin at unexpected hours--he’d come to expect it, in fact. Nico was often up, a shorthand insomnia from a reaction to slipping into a nightmare every time he fell asleep. It had gotten better with time, and Jason’s coaxing and comforts.

 

“It’s cold out,” he repeats. He’s not looking at Jason.

 

Jason ducks his head outside the threshold of his cabin. The night air is sweltering. “Not… exactly. Everything okay, Nico?” Nico’s head is tilted down. When Jason leans to meet his gaze, he sees his eyes are unfocused. “... Do you want to come inside?”

 

Nico ambles in without a word, dragging lead limbs through Jason’s door. His movements are slightly sluggish, and all of him seems out of focus. He closes the door to his cabin and sighs, letting loose a spark of electricity to light the lamps of the room. 

 

This development is new. He’s seen Nico shocked and scared, trembling after the state of a nightmare, and he’s seen him unresponsive and depressed for days. But this is different. He still has agency, even if something’s holding him back.

 

Nico’s staring at the statue of Zeus, still shivering and mumbling something about it being cold. “The mountain,” is all he says.

 

Something clicks in Jason’s brain. “You’re sleepwalking, aren’t you?” 

 

“I forgot my jacket,” is his brainwashed reply. 

 

Jason nods slowly. Trying to wake him up in this strange state could only aggravate him. “Hey, Nico, want to go for a walk?”

 

Nico shakes his head, still stuck on the statue. “It’s cold out.”

 

“Then let’s go get your jacket. It’s back in your cabin, yeah?”

 

Jason escorts Nico out of his cabin, careful not to touch him too much lest he upset him, and they meander along. The stars are twinkling while summer insects symphonize. Jason wipes the sweat suddenly beading his brow. 

 

He opens the door for Nico, who responds, “Thank you, Jules-Albert,” and stumbles inside.

 

Jason chuckles. He can handle Nico like this. Nico, who’s sleep makes him wander, and no longer weep. “Your jacket’s over here,” he says, pointing to the bed, hoping to get Nico to lay down and finally sleep.

 

“Mmh.” Nico sits on his bed and grips a handful of the covers. His blank eyes slide shut, slowly, slowly, and his head droops. He’s asleep in a minute. Jason waits five until he’s sure Nico is steady and quiet before he lays him down, sweeping the blankets over him.

 

“Night, Nico,” he murmurs fondly, then goes back to his own cabin. Not the worst way to be woken up in the dead of night, he admits.

 

Next morning he sees Nico at breakfast and joins him at the formerly Hades cabin table and currently  _ Big Three Minus Poseidon _ table. “Hey, Jason,” he greets with a yawn, pushing his scrambled eggs around. He still doesn’t eat much. Some things don’t change.

 

“Morning. You sleep okay last night?” he asks, gently prodding.

 

“Yep. No nightmares.” 

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Nico crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I had a nightmare,” he mumbles. “Since they usually wake you up, too.”

 

Jason sips some orange juice and sighs. “You came to my cabin last night. Do you remember that?” Nico slowly shakes his head, and before he can panic, Jason assures, “Nothing bad. You were sleepwalking and I walked you back to your cabin. Just thought you’d want to know.”

 

“Oh.” Nico scratches his arm. “Never done that before.”

 

“Yeah. It was weird. Kinda funny. I think you were trying to win a staring contest with my dad’s statue.”

 

Nico smirks. “Did I?”

 

It happens at infrequent intervals. Three nights in a row. Radio silence for two weeks and then Nico comes knocking again. Every other night over nine days. Jason finds that he doesn’t mind it. He doesn’t need a lot of sleep, and if there’s anyone that can melt his heart at 3am, it’s Nico.

 

Nico mumbles and babbles, so Jason’s natural response is to talk back, whether or not Nico can hear him. The next morning, Nico doesn’t remember anything he or Jason has said, so he tries not to hold it to him. 

 

Still, sleepwalking Nico spouts adages that catch Jason off guard. Not often, but enough. They range from “Chiron caught Will and I making out in the Big House once” to “My sister’s ghost wouldn’t talk to me without Percy being there”. These aren’t things that Jason can ignore, they bounce around in his head for hours, but when Nico is awake he puts them out of his mind. There’s no use in letting him know he knows; it would only upset him, and it’s not something Nico can really control.

 

It’s another night, Jason’s about to walk Nico back to his cabin, when Nico blurts, “I want to sleep here.” 

 

“Are you sure?” Jason asks. “I don’t mind walking you to your cabin.”

 

“I like sleeping next to you.”

 

“Oh.” Jason’s cheeks are rosy and he’s glad Nico’s half-asleep. “You know, I like sleeping next to you, too.”

 

There’s something about seeing Nico in these softer moments that completely undoes Jason. The way he’s willing, and wanting, and allowing himself that after so many years of denial. He’s finally allowing himself to just  _ be _ . And that that’s okay. And that he’s okay. Jason’s heart swells with untold affection.

 

He makes up his bed for them both and boxes himself in against the wall, letting Nico have more space. And should he wake up and panic, he won’t have to feel awkward or wrestle over Jason to get free. “You know, Nico,” he says, patting the spot beside him. “I like you a lot.”

 

“Mhm.” Nico lays down. Jason tosses the covers over him.

 

“I really do. More than I should. I think you’re amazing. You look really cute with a ponytail. And you’re smart. And strong. I wish I could hold your hand, or, or maybe...” Even the thought of kissing Nico makes him airy, too light with euphoria to voice it. He sighs, letting his head sink into the pillow. “I guess this is the only way I can tell you, right now. At least so we’re even.”

 

Nico nods. His eyes are lidded, ready to shut with exhaustion. They meet Jason’s gaze for a second when he says, “Love you too, Jay”, and then loll to the mattress. In a few minutes, Nico is snoring, comfortably snuggled under comforter and against pillow.

 

Jason stays awake and stares for another hour before his restless mind stops spinning.


End file.
